None for the road

Alcohol is a factor in between one-quarter and one-third of all road traffic accidents on Europe’s roads. That means that about 10,000 people each year are killed as a direct result of drunk driving. While truck drivers do not drink and drive more than any other group of road users, inevitably a truck involved in a collision will result in serious injuries.

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) and Volvo Trucks are running a joint campaign called Safe & Sober. Its aim is to reduce the number of truck drivers who drive under the influence of alcohol, and in doing so to reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused by drink driving in Europe.

The Safe & Sober campaign covers a series of activities where Volvo Trucks and ETSC are calling for a harmonized blood alcohol content (BAC) level throughout the European Union (0,2%) for breath tests conducted on commercial drivers.

Volvo Trucks is also taking its own steps to cut accidents involving alcohol, such as offering alcolock technology in its trucks, where the driver has to blow into a mouthpiece in order to be allowed to start the vehicle.